Share to ClassroomMillions Watch Rare Eclipse Across Europe
Millions of people in the United Kingdom and across Europe looked up at the sky on Wednesday evening. The Moon moved in front of the Sun. It was the biggest solar eclipse in the region for almost 30 years. In parts of Greenland, Iceland and Spain, the sky went completely dark for less than two minutes. This is called a total eclipse. In the United Kingdom, the Moon covered about 90 percent of the Sun, and about 95 percent in Cornwall.
An eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth. The Moon then throws a shadow onto our planet. The Sun is about 400 times further away than the Moon, but it is also about 400 times wider. Because of this, the two look almost the same size in the sky. Before the event, special eclipse glasses sold out in shops. Many people used colanders, cereal boxes and pieces of paper to watch safely.
Crowds gathered on hills and at famous places, and cheered. The sky was clear in southern England and Wales, but cloud spoiled the view in Scotland. A total eclipse happens somewhere on Earth about every 18 months. But it returns to the same place only about once in 400 years. The United Kingdom will not see a bigger eclipse until 2081.
